Optical setups require a precise mounting platform for the placement of single optical elements, such as for instance filters, prisms, mirrors, lenses, and so forth. Typically, an optical bench serves as mounting platform for such elements.
Neither the floor space nor the weight play an important role for many applications and the corresponding materials and setups may be chosen. In more modern applications often massive glass or glass-ceramic plates are being deployed.
More and more often, however, optical setups are being moved or employed in moving systems. In this case the size and weight of the optical bench can play an important role. The weight is a decisive factor in setups that have to be accelerated or decelerated.
Today, such applications rely often on glass or glass-ceramic plates, whereby cutouts for the reduction of the weight are formed by means of milling, for example. It is an advantage of this approach that the knowledge collected in connection with apparatus based on such glass or glass-ceramic plates can be used further on. It is a disadvantage of this approach that the mass reduction due to the cutouts Is not sufficient for many applications. Moreover, the making of the cutouts is costly and may lead to waste in the production. The loss of stability is regarded to be a further disadvantage. In particular in case of setups that are dynamically loaded, or if being employed in an environment with strongly fluctuating temperatures, such as in space for instance, the cutouts cause inhomogeneities that may for example give rise to tensions. Particularly disadvantageous is the carving out of Zerodur-plates by means of milling, since during this handling step the part tend to burst due to internal tensions.
The deployment of optical setups in space is mentioned as example for applications that are particularly critical. These setups have to be able to be transported into space and there to be permanently and reliably deployed. Especially at launch of the carrier rocket that shall bring the setup into space, the costs are determined based on the weight, since per kilogram of mass to be transported an enormous amount of energy has to be made available.
Besides of the weight there are other factors for moving optical systems or optical systems that are being moved, that are important. Criteria, the adherence to which is of fundamental importance, are the (torsion-) stiffness, roughness, planarity, temperature stability, shock resistance, etc.
It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus that avoids or reduces the disadvantages of known apparatus.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an optical bench that is lighter than conventional setups and that at the same time fulfils the essential criteria, which are, depending on the application and place of deployment, imposed on the system.
Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide an optical bench that can be deployed extra terrestrically.